Home
by DarkAngel555
Summary: Miss home? That certainly wasn't a question that he'd expected when he decided to go riding with Corona. (Set sometime before ANE)


_DA: So... Um... I AM SO SORRY! I totally meant to come back to ANE the moment I finished Darkness to Dawn, but um... College got in the way. And here I am, a good two years later, applying to graduate programs and I still haven't finished ANE... I plan to fix that by the end of this school year. ANE doesn't have much left to it in terms of content, but I still have to actually write what remains and post it. I am approximately halfway through the next chapter, but I decided I'd write a little one-shot as both an apology and an announcement. _

Disclaimer: As usual nothing is mine, though apparently if it was, the story would have been left unfinished.

_DA: So enjoy! It's short, but I think you'll like it. Note that this is set sometime before ANE even started._

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**Home**

"Do you ever miss home?"

The question caught Hunter by surprise, green eyes jumping over to his companion in shock. Corona smiled sheepishly at him, though her blue gaze remained glittering with curiosity. No matter how much he spoke of his home, she always requested he say more, understandably eager to learn of this strange new world. A slight grin pulled at his lips, a gentle laugh rising from his throat. But he leaned back onto Shadow, who was strangely silent, to continue watching the clouds drifting past as they moved. "Why do you ask?" he questioned, pillowing his head into his interlocked hands.

Corona shifted on Venus, her eyes still trained on her battle partner. "Well, it was your home once. You grew up there, so you have to have some attachment to it." Hunter was silent, her words washing over him. Did he miss home? It seemed like it had been forever since he had even thought about living anyplace but Arachna. But perhaps... A familiar face swam before his vision, a visage that was he was so acquainted with that recalling it was like breathing. The smile dropped from his features, his expression softening with sadness. Corona frowned slightly, suddenly worried that she had said something wrong. "Hunter?"

He flinched, looking over at her. The blond cocked her head in confusion, blue eyes widening at the loneliness echoing in his green irises. The redhead averted his gaze, looking up towards the sky once more. He hadn't thought about her in a long time. What kind of brother was he? Without his beckoning, a tear slipped down his cheek, pooling onto the spider's back below him. Memories swam through his thoughts, the clouds above twisting into shapes of objects and people long forgotten.

"Yea..." he mumbled, letting his eyes drift shut. "Yea, I guess I do..."

"Hunter, I'm sorry..." Corona's voice was heavy with sorrow, obviously saddened that her question had hurt her partner so deeply. He blinked, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"What for? I'm happy here. What happened long ago is in the past. Earth was my home. Arachna _is_ my home." He smiled widely at her, white teeth glinting in the dulling sunlight. Corona studied him, scowling lightly in concentration. But she sighed, shaking her head. Whatever emotion that she had seen a few seconds ago was gone, Hunter's carefree attitude once again in place.

"Good thing too," Shadow remarked from below the boy, the words rumbling against Hunter's back. "Because there's no way that someone like you would ever figure out a way back to wherever it is you're from." Anger instantly flashed across the redhead's countenance, the skin between his eyebrows crumpling as they furrowed.

"What did you mean by that you overgrown bug?!" he snapped, springing to his feet in an instant.

"Exactly what I said. You lack the intelligence to navigate a castle, much less find a way out of the Inner World." Corona laughed, the argument increasing in volume as it continued. Leave it to Shadow to find a way to lift Hunter's mood. The wind blew, tousling strands of both red and blond hair. Hunter smiled softly, glancing once more into the sky.

_Yea, this is my home now... _

"Can't think of a comeback, can you?" Shadow shot, noting the boy's silence.

"Just watch me, you cocky bastard!"

He could definitely live here.

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_DA: Short, I know, but I literally just wrote this on the fly. (And the person Hunter was alluding to was, in fact, Blaze from ANE) Mostly because I wanted to make the announcement that I'm finally returning to finish ANE. Again, I'm so sorry it has taken this long. Also, I apologize for any characterization errors. It has been a very long time since I last watched the series and I'm planning on doing a rewatch sometime in the near future. So just bear with me until then. _

_Anyways, you should expect A New Evil update sometime within the next few weeks. See you then!_

_May your hearts stay strong,_

_DarkAngel555_


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